Cost effective inspection methodology of AIT-II with ADC 2.0

The AIT-II, a dark-field tool with automatic defect classification (ADC), is one of the most powerful in-line inspection combinations for reducing defect excursions and working on baseline yield issues. This report highlights the yield enhancement and cost benefits of AIT-II with Impact ADC 2.0 at Agere Systems, Madrid, Spain. The current, streamlined, inspection methodology is presented and contrasted with the traditional method. Defects found by the ADC classifiers are presented with real examples of the baseline events, both yield limiting and nonyield limiting. More importantly, we demonstrate how these tools can help people focus on the real yield limiting issues. Finally, we propose how to calculate cost of ownership by taking into account the yield "saved" by using AIT-II with Impact ADC 2.0.